TEA
AND COFFEE – in the
parish room after Mass – access through sacristy.

FOOD
BANK – many thanks
for your continued support of the Food Bank -all items taken to the
Food Bank on Thursday and ever so gratefully received

PARISH
LUNCH – this
THURSDAY after
12 noon Mass – all welcome – the list is still in the porch.

MEDITATION
DURING LENT – on
Mondays in the parish room 7.15 till 8.15 – all welcome

DEANERY
STATION MASS – this
Tuesday is at St Michael’s, Warren Lane, Abbeyhills at 7.30pm.

STATIONS
OF THE CROSS DURING LENT – 6.30pm on
Thursdays – we are alternating between the two versions.

PHANTOM
OF THE OPERA – 28th
April – money for tickets now due.

THE
LION KING – will
take the list away this week – do make sure that you put an ‘S’
after your name if
you wish to sit in the stalls.

CORONAVIRUS – insert from the diocese – ‘It seems prudent to suspend temporarily some liturgical practises such as the Sign of peace and Communion from the Chalice. We will also suspend Communion on the tongue until further notice. Holy Water stoups will be emptied.. These are precautionary measures already implemented in a number of parishes around the diocese and beyond.’ We shall miss our much cherished practices; please God, they will be resumed very soon.

LONGING
for some warm
weather; it can’t be far off. The weather still has a Lenten feel
about it though it isn’t desperately cold.

RICHARD
ROLHEISER –‘If the
Catholicism that I was raised in had a fault, and it did, it was
precisely that it did not allow for mistkes. If you made a mistake,
you lived with it and, like the rich young man, were doomed to be
sad, at least for the rest of your life. A serious mistake was a
permanent stigmatization. We need a theolgy of brokenness. We need a
theology which teaches us that even though we can’t unscramble an
egg, God’s grace lets us live happily and with renewed innocence
beyond any egg we may have scrambled. Every time we close a door, He
opens another one for us.’

TEA
AND COFFEE – in the
parish room after Mass- access through sacristy.

FOOD
BANK – another big
thank you for the food left in the porch – taken to the Food Bank on
Thursday and so gratefully receiverd.

SACRAMENTAL
PROGRAMME – takes
place today for parents and children involved in First Holy Communion
preparation – 9.15 in church.

PARISH
LUNCH – takes
place on Thursday
12th March – the
list is in the porch and all are welcome.

MEDITATION
DURING LENT – takes
place on Mondays in the parish room – 7.15 till 8.15pm and all are
welcome.

DEANERY
STATION MASS – on
Tuesday this week at Ss Aidan and Oswald, Royton at 7.30pm.

PHANTOM
OF THE OPERA – money
due in February – £60 including transport – really want to know if
we have any spare tickets.

THE
LION KING – list is
in the porch. Forgot to ask people to put an ‘S’
after their name if
they wish to have a seat in the stalls.

MOSSLEY
CORRESPONDENT – a
few copies in the porch.

STATIONS
OF THE CROSS IN LENT – on
Thursdays, alternating with the two versions – thought we would try
6.30pm instead
of 7pm – will see how it goes.

CONFIRMATIONS
– will take place
in 2021. There will be a course of preparation beginning in September
(deanery course) for chidren presently in year 7 in the High School.
Do let us know if your child wishes to take part.

AND INTO MARCH – still soggy and squelchy and everwhere saturated; it is the time for pruning – if we can attend to our pots and garden. And Lent is the invitation to do some spiritual pruning – ‘To be a person is to know at your centre an inviolable and unique space: it is what gives us our own intergrity, a sense of our own reality.’

ST TERESA OF AVILA- ‘we are not forced to take wings to find God, but have only to seek solitude and look within ourselves.’

ST
SERAPHIM OF SAROV –a
nineteenth-century Russian mystic, once wrote’ All condemnation is
of the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others because we
shun knowing ourselves.’ And a familiar saying: ‘Every saint has a
past and every sinner has a future’.

FUNERAL
SERVICE – for
Christine Rigg is on Thursday 12th March at 12.15

MASS
TIMES THIS WEEK – 10am
– except Monday – 1.45pm

ADORATION
OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT – Friday
at 9 till 10am

CONFESSIONS
– Saturday after
10am Mass and at 5.55pm

TEA
AND COFFEE – in the
parish room after Mass- access through sacristy

FOOD
BANK – yet again, a
big thank you for all the food left in the porch; so many families
seem to be struggling these days with debt and poverty.

ASH WEDNESDAY – Mass and distribution of ashes at 10am and 7pmEnjoy a good breakfast and a hearty evening meal and, if you can, go easy eating during the day – but no big deal if you can’t.

STATIONS
OF THE CROSS DURING LENT – on
Thursdays at 7pm – this year we will alternate between the two
versions.

FIRST STATION MASS – is at Ss Aidan and Oswald on Tuesday 3rd March at 7.30pm (the Bishop will be coming here for our Station Mass on 31st March)

MEDITATION
DURING LENT – will
be on Mondays at 7.15pm in the parish room – all welcome.

PARISH
LUNCH –is on
THURSDAY 12th
March – the list is in the porch and all are welcome

PHANTOM
OF THE OPERA – collecting
the money this month – so we will know if we have any spare tickets
over – £60 including transport – April 28th.

THE
LION KING – on from
22nd October till 28th March – have left a list in the porch to see
what the take-up up – then the tickets can be booked.

SACRAMENTAL
PROGRAMME – the
next meeting is on Sunday 1st March

LITURGY
FOR THE TINY ONES – takes
place today in the parish room just before 10.15 Mass.

LENTEN
BOOKLETS – are in
the porch, do take one, there is no charge – there are some calendars
too.

SCHOO RE-OPENS – on Monday

RATHER
DAMP – sort of
week, though encouraging to notice a stretch in the days. Suspect
that lots of outdoor activities were put on hold.

IN AN ‘EVIL CRADLING’ Brian Keenan who was held in captivity for five years describes when he received a bowl of fruit after being kept in the dark –‘My eyes are almost burned by what I see. The fruit, the colours, mesmerize me in the quiet rapture that spins through my head.. I lift an orange into the flat filthy palm of my hand and feel and smell and lick it. The colour orange, the colour, the colour, my God, the colour orange. Before me is a feast of colour. I feel myself begin to dance, slowly, I am intoxicated by colour.. Such wonder, such absolute wonder in such insignificant fruit…….

REFRESHMENTS
– in the parish
room after Mass – access through sacristy.

FOOD
BANK – yet again a
heartfelt thank you for all the food left in the porch and taken to
the Food Bank on Thursday, and received with open arms.

PARISH
LUNCH – has been
moved back a week to accommodate a funeral – will now be on Thursday
12thMarch.

PHANTOM
OF THE OPERA – during
this month we are collecting the money for the Show – £60 including
transport – apologies that the price is slightly dearer than usual (
the tickets are £58 each). At the end of the month we will know if
we have any spare tickets.

THE
LION KING – on from
22nd October till 28th March. Have left a list in the porch to see
what the take-up is. Another blockbuster with fine reviews.

NOTHING
DULL – about the
weather, and the forecasters appear very excitable. Let’s hope we
survive the storm – and our church roof in particular.

INTERESTING
– during the seige
in Paris in 1870 when food was very scarce, one restaurant resorted
to inventive dishes using animals in the city’s zoo, including bear
with red pepper sauce and roast donkey head – sounds tasty. And,

it
is reported, that in 1930, holiday makers in Blackpool were invited
to pay 3d to view Arthur Cox, who claimed he was male down his right
side but female down his left. A police inspection was carried out
and he was convicted of false pretences. What fun at the seaside.

HALF
TERM – school
closes for half-term and re-opens on Monday 24th

SACRAMENTAL
PROGRAMME – the
next meeting is on Sunday 1st March

LITURGY
FOR THE TINY ONES – takes
place on the last Sunday of the month in the parish room just before
Mass – all welcome.

ASH
WEDNESDAY – is on
Wednesday week.

ROBERT
VAN DE WEYER – ‘Never
mock what others say. Perhaps their words are full of nonsense.
Perhaps they are trying to puff themselves up. Perhaps they like
hearing the sound of their voices. Perhaps they are trying to deceive
their hearers. Perhaps they are foolish and dim. Perhaps they are
more clever than wise. Yet amidst the useless clay you may find
jewels beyond price. The word of God is in every heart, and can speak
through every voice.’

CALM me. O lord, as You stilled the storm. Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm.Let all the tumult within me cease. Enfold me, Lord, in Your peace.

ST
PHILIP NERI – founder
of the Oratorians, was often involved in quarrels. One day he decided
that this tendency must stop, once and for all. He ran to the chapel,
fell prostrate before the statue of Christ and begged the Lord to
free hinm fron anger. More hopefully now, he walked out of the
chapel. The first person he met was a brother he liked, but for the
first time this brother was unpleasant towards him. Now red with rage
, he met another of the brothers, with whom he had also (as in the
first encounter) always had a cordial relationship. But this brother
also spoke to Philip in a gruff way. Philip, in despair, ran back to
the chapel. Again he fell down in front of the statue, and pleaded,
‘O Lord, did I not beseech you to free me from my anger?’ And the
Lord replied,’Yes Philip. And for this reason, I am multiplying the
occasions for you to learn!’

ALBERT EINSTEIN –‘Whoever is devoid of the capacity to wonder, whoeverremains unmoved, whoever cannot contemplate or know the deep shudder of the soul in enchantment, might just as well be dead for he has already closed his eyes upon life.’

BLESSED-be thou, O God, who hast made my body to be a temple for thy HolySpirit.

FUNERAL
SERVICE – for
Frances Barnes is on Friday 14th February at 11am

MASS
TIMES THIS WEEK – Saturday
at 10am

EUCHARISTIC
SERVICE – on
Tuesday and Thursday at 10am

CONFESSIONS
– on Saturday
after 10am Mass and at 5.55pm

TEA
AND COFFEE – in
the parish room after Mass – access through sacristy

FOOD
BANK – once again,
a big thank you for the food left in the porch – taken to the Food
Bank on Thursday and so gratefully received.

SACRAMENTAL
PROGRAMME – takes
place today at 9.15am for parents and children involved in First Holy
Communion preparation

NEXT
PARISH LUNCH – will
be on Thursday 5th March

A
BIG THANK YOU – A
word of thank you to everybody who supported the Caberet Evening held
in the George Lawton Hall last week in support of the Menigitis
Research Foundation. I think it is fair to say that an enjoyable
evening was had by all, and thanks to everybody’s generosity, an
amount in excess of £3,300 has been raised after all expenses have
been paid. The Research Foundation has asked that I pass on their
gratitude. Thanks, once again, for your support of this worthy
cause. Danny Power.

MOSSLEY
CORRESPONDENT – a
few copies in the porch

OUR
GRATITUDE – to
Brian for doing the accounts and producing a summary of 2019 Returns
to the diocese – overleaf.

AND
INTO FEBRUARY – in
certain old proverbs February is known as fill-dyke, when the rain
and melted snow filled the ditches to overflowing, and it was said
that if the weather is fine and frosty at the close of January, there
is more winter ahead than behind. In the devotional Book of Hours,
the unlaborious seasonal labour for bitter Februaries was sitting by
the fire. We won’t count our blessing weather-wise until the end of
the month.

RACHEL
KELLY – who wrote
52 practical Steps to Happiness, says ‘Like most of us, I prefer to
follow predictable paths and don’t like unforseen events. I have
found it easier not just to accept unpredictability, but to celebrate
it.’ Well, I suppose it’s worth a try.

PHANTOM
OF THE OPERA – during
the month of February we will be collecting the money for the Show.
Apologies that it is slightly dearer than usual – £60 including
transport. At the end of the month we will know how many spare
tickets we have for those on the waiting list.

TEA
AND COFFEE – in the
parish room after Mass -access through sacristy.

FOOD
BANK – once again,
a big thank you for all the food left in the porch – taken to the
Food Bank on Thursday and so gratefully received.

SACRAMENTAL
PROGRAMME – parents
and children involved in preparing for First Holy Communion meet on
Sunday 2nd February at 9.15am

NEW
LISTS – for readers
and eucharistic ministers are in the sacristy.

THE LION KING – running from 22nd October till 28th March at the PalaceWill leave a list out next month to see what the take up is.

THE
YEAR OF THE RAT – the
Chinese New Year begins on 25th January.

PARISH
LUNCH – will
mention next week the date of our next parish lunch.

HOPEFULLY
– next week, we
will have a summary of our financial statement

WEATHER
WISE – we have
enjoyed better weeks; travelling has been tricky with the fog and
mist, sometimes lasting all day. Still, a good excuse for not
venturing far; we can continue to hibernte for the rest of the month

MICHAEL
MAYNE –‘ When we
fall in love, or share a deep friendship, what each values is just
this uniqueness, this otherness that is both similar and
complementary yet distinct. The lover’s ‘I love you because you are
you’ puts its finger on it. What I am claiming is that this is what
God says to each one, and what makes each of us unique and
irreplaceable is not that we are unusually gifted in some way. It
lies rather (and here is the heart of it) in that personal intimate
relationship with God which is mine and mine alone. In some amazing
sense I matter to God because nothing and no-one else in his whole
creation can reflect his love back to him in exactly the same way.’

FYODOR
DOSTOEVSKY – ‘Love
all God’s creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand in it.
Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the
plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive
the divine mystery in things.’

FUNERAL
SERVICE – for Josie
Highland takes place on Wednesday at 4pm at Dukinfield Crematorium.

MASS
TIMES THIS WEEK – 10am
each day.

FEASTS
THIS WEEK – Tues-
St Raymond of Penyafort; Fri- St William

ADORATION
OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT – Friday
at 9 till 10am

CONFESSIONS
– Saturday after
10.am Mass and at 5.55pm

TEA
AND COFFEE – in
the parish room after Mass – access through sacristy.

FOOD
BANK – a huge thank
you for all the food left in the porch over the past couple of weeks
– taken to the Food Bank on Thursday – so gratefully received.

BACK
TO SCHOOL – this
Monday.

QIGONG
– class re-starts
on Thursday at 7.15 till 8.15pm

PHANTOM
OF THE OPERA – will
collect the money for the tickets next month – during January bills
will be arriving through the letter box.. For this premier show,
tickets will be slightly dearer, £60 including transport – 28th
April.

CURE
FOR POST CHRISTMAS BLUES – we
are presenting a fabulous caberet evening in aid of the Meningitis
Research Foundation at the George Lawton Hall on Saturday January
25th at 7.30pm. We have some great musical acts, including
Carrbrook’s own Beverley Thompson, lots of prizes in our huge raffle,
and we will be auctioning some fabulous items. Mossley Hollins Brass
Band will be making a guest appearance and the night finishes with
some great disco classics. Tickets are just £10. Contact Danny
Power – o1457835273 or 075979897065.

BACK
TO NORMAL – after
the festivities. Today’s feast, the Epiphany, is so lovely.Melanie
McDonagh reminds us of the Irish tradition of calling this Feast the
Women’s Christmas or Little Christmas. This custom gives over the
Epiphany to the women who worked for the family over Christmas to
have the day to themselves, for gadding about, eating cake and
drinking tea with their friends. They, who had waited on everyone
else, were for the day waited on.

BABY
IT’S COLD IN THERE – writing
in his diary for Christmas Day 1870 the Rev Francis Kilvert in the
village of Draycot Cerne, Wiltshire wrote ‘I sat down in my bath upon
a sheet of thick ice which broke in the middle into large pieces
whilst sharp points and jagged edges stuck all round the sides of the
tub, not particularly comforting to the naked thighs and loins, for
the keen ice cut like broken glass. I had to collect the floating
pieces of ice and pile them on a chair before I could use the sponge,
and then I had to thaw the sponge in my hands for it was a mass of
ice.’ Suspect we would have given bathing a miss!

NEW
OFFERTORY ENVELOPES – in
the porch. If you would like a book of envelopes, take a spare book
and write your name and number on the paper.

FOOD
BANK – a huge thank
you for all the food left in the porch – taken to the Food Bank on
Thursday – will bring a smile to needy families.

QIGONG
– the next class
will be on Thursday 9th January.

DIARIES
AND CALENDARS – in
the porch still – do take one.

PIETY
STALL – gifts and
cards for last minute purchases

NEW
OFFERTORY ENVELOPES – will
be available next Sunday – also some spare envelopes for people who
would like a book of envelopes – just put your name on the sheet of
paper and the number of the envelopes-

NEW
YEAR’S DAY – Mass
will be at 12 noon as usual with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
at 11 till 12 to pray for peace in the world.

PRIMARY
HEADTEACHER VACANCY – we
have been asked to advertise this vacancy at St Peter’s, Stalybridge
– closing date 20th January and details on the school website
-stpetersstalybridge.co.uk

MOSSLEY
CORRESPONDENT – a
few copies in the porch

WISHING
– everyone a joyful
and peaceful Christmas and deep gratitude for everything given and
shared over the past year. And, thank you for being so lovely. This
year Pope Francis wrote a letter (Admirabile signum) to encourage
all Christians to preserve the beautiful family tradition of
preparing the nativity scene (the crib) ‘Contemplating the nativity
scene is a time for the heart’ Francis says, ‘ it allows us to feel
and touch the poverty that God’s Son took upon himself, and to feel
that God is with us and we are with him’.

THIS
YEAR – thecrib will take
centre stage in the sanctuary – the tree has hogged the limelight for
the past few years. Thankfully, it will now begin to get light again
in the evening. Hope all can chill out over the festive season

Hugh
Lavery –‘what pleasure lacks is permanence. It is
rather like the the soft surface of an unruffled sea; one brisk wind
destroys it. But there is calm water below. That is where joy
belongs. In the deep places.’

ADORATION
OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT – Friday
at 9 till 10am -mentioning, once again, the perfect devotion for
Advent, quiet before the Lord.

CONFESSION
– Saturday after
10am Mass and at 5.55pm

TEA
AND COFFEE – in the
parish room after Mass – access through sacristy

FOOD
BANK – so grateful
for the huge amount of food left in the porch – taken to the Food
Bank on Thursday and received with open arms – many thanks

ADVENT
SERVICE OF RECONCILIATION – takes
place today at 4pm – many find the twice yearly service we have to be
helpful and comforting.

SCHOOL
CHRISTMAS CAROL CONCERT – is
on Monday at at 6.30pm – the children are usually in fine voice for
this event.

CHISTMAS
EVE – Mass is at 5.30pm with carols beforehand

CHRISTMAS
DAY – Mass is at 10.30am

QIGONG
– the class takes
place on Thursday at 7.15 till 8.15pm

GYPSY
– an enjoyable
night out despite the weather – perhaps like the proverbial curate’s
egg, good in parts. The stand-in Leading Lady gave a polished
performance. Our next outing is to see the Phantom of the Opera on
28th April at the Palace Theatre.

PIETY
STALL – a few cards
left and some excellent gifts

DIARIES
AND A FEW CALENDARS –
are available in the porch – the calendars and parish diaries have
the old times for weekend Masses.

SCHOOL
CLOSES – on
Thursday and re-opens on Monday 6th January.

ADVENT
COURSE – at the
Methodist Church on Wed led by Win Ashmore.

TOO
MUCH OF A GOOD THING – Pitt
the Younger was prescribed a bottle of port a day for his gout. He
eventually became ‘a three bottle man’. His gout was cured, but at a
price: he died aged 46.

JOHN
O DONOHUE –‘Functionalism
wants to acquire and control; its hunger is relentless. The
reverential mind can let things be and celebrate a person’s presence
or a thing’s beauty without wanting something from them. There is an
ascetical rhythm to experience and does not need to rush to fill it
with the latest distraction..’

NOT
THE BEST OF WEEK’S – for
promenading and enjoying the great outdoors; the rain and wind have
been somewhat relentless and unforgiving – puddings have no doubt
replaced ice cream on the family menu. Odd, that in the foulest,
coldest weather, people can be seen drinking coffee outside coffee
shops and having a fag.

GUADETE
SUNDAY TODAY – the
pink candle on the Advent Wreath is lit – the Lord says ‘Be of Good
Heart, I have come to bless you’.

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